Flipper hat



April 14, 1970 E. c. MIMS 3,505,682

FLIPPER HAT Filed Sept. 5. 1968 INVENTOR, EDWARD c MIMS United StatesPatent 3,505,682 FLIPPER HAT Edward C. Mims, 254 Church St., Elberton,Ga. 30635 Filed Sept. 5, 1968, Ser. No. 757,711 Int. Cl. A42c /00 U.S.Cl. 2-185 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A hat for sportsmen or thelike having a waterproof compartment integrally formed therewithincapable of opening and closing along the crown portion for carrying anynumber of small paraphernalia intended to be insulated from the variousweather elements.

This invention relates to a hat for sportsmen or the like and moreparticularly to a hat designed to carry any number of smallparaphernalia used by the sportsman and which are intended to beinsulated from moisture and wet weather conditions.

It is normally customary for most sportsmen, whether they be golfers,hunters, fishermen, or the like, to use a kit bag or similar container,or even a pocket or two for holding golf balls, fish hooks, golf tees,shotgun or rifle shells, etc., which are expected to be used and must bereadily available for easy access. Sometimes it is quite a burden for asportsman to carry with him various kits and containers for his suppliesor to use his jacket or trouser pockets for carrying some of the smallitems on his person, because they can be easily misplaced or lost evenbecome quite cumbersome while, for example, teeing off or while takingaim at game. Besides, such items as shotgun shells need to be kept freeof moisture or exposure to the wet weather elements and many of theother supplies such as wet golfballs and tees only dampen the sportsmanspockets as he uses them repeatedly throughout the game. On the otherhand, since most sportsmen are accustomed to wearing a hat or cap whilefishing, hunting, etc., it would be advantageous for him if he wereprovided with a pocket or compartment in his hat for carrying some ofhis small supplies.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a hatfor the sportsman having means for carrying various small articles so asto forego the necessity of a separate container or the use of pockets onhis person.

Another object of the instant invention is to provide a hat of thecharacter described wherein the pocket or kit compartment is easilyaccessible to the user without unduly burdening him while carryingaround his various supplies.

A further object of the present design is to provide a hat characterizedby a slit extending substantially along the side of the hats crownportion so that it may be easily flipped up by the user for insertion orremoval of his various paraphernalia, and having a zipper fastener orthe like for closing and opening said slit.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a hat of thecharacter described which has a compartment or pocket at the inner topportion of its crown extending above and below the side slit anddesigned to be opened along with the opening and closing of the crownportion for storing small articles by the user.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a hat ofthe type described wherein the pocket or compartment is of a waterproofconstruction for insulating either wet or dry supplies after beingplaced therein.

3,505,682 Patented Apr. 14, 1970 Other objects, advantages and novelfeatures of the invention will become apparent from thefollowingdetailed description of the invention when considered inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a typical hat which may be worn by thesportsman;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the hat shown in FIGURE 1 but with itscrown portion completely open for the insertion of various articles;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along the line3-3 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of another typical hat which may be wornby the sportsman; and

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the hat shown in FIGURE 4 but with itscrown portion completely open.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like numerals refer to the likeand corresponding parts throughout several views, there is shown inFIGURE 1, a typical sportsmans hat 10 having a fiat top crown portion 11with a brim 12 around the entire periphery of the hat. A zipper fastener13 is provided along a slit which extends around substantially theentire side wall 14 of the crown of the hat. FIGURE 2 shows the hatafter the zipper fastener 13 has been completely opened so that a lidportion 15 of the hat can be flipped open by the user which lid may behinged as at 16 to the remaining crown portion of the hat. It can beseen, therefore, that the wearer of hat 10 simply needs to reach up andunfasten zipper 13 for easy access to the inside of his hat after thelid 15 is flipped open as shown.

Referring now to FIGURE 3 of the drawings, a compartment or pocket 17 isprovided at the inner topmost portion of the crown and is sewn orotherwise secured to the flat top portion 11 of the crown and to theside wall 14. As can be seen, the compartment 17 is designed to extendabove and below the location of zipper 13 on the crown portion of thehat, and the bottom wall 18 of the compartment is designed to bemaintained a sutficient distance from the bottom 19 of the crown so asnot to interfere with a normal wearing of the hat. Also, as can be seenin FIGURE 2, the compartment 17 is capable of being opened by the zipper13' since it is also provided with a slit 27 around its side wallsimilar to the type of opening provided for the crown portion.Accordingly, when the zipper fastener is opened and the lid 15 flippedopen as shown in the drawing, the compartment 17 is also opened so thatthe inside thereof is presented to the user for storage of his smallsupplies and other paraphernalia.

In FIGURES 4 and 5 of the drawings, another typical hat for thesportsman is shown identical to the hat 10 above-described except thatthe hat 20 is provided with a visor brim 21 instead of the type brim 12of the hat 10. Here, a zipper 24 is provided along a slit which extendssubstantially around the length of the side wall 22 of the hat so that,when the zipper is open, a top lid 23 can be flipped open and hinged asat 26- for exposing the compartment 25 along its slit 28 in the samemanner and according to the same design as described in relation toFIGURES 1, 2 and 3. The compartment 17 and the compartment 25, which areidentical except for a slight variation to accommodate different shapesof the crown, are preferably of a rubber or plastic material. In thisway wet or moist articles such as golf balls and golf tees can becarried in the hats compartment without soiling or dampening the hat,and fishing gear such as hooks can be more easily carried in such awaterproof pocket without concern about the hook points entanglingthemselves in the threads of a pocket fabric as would normally be thecase. In addition, shotgun shells and rifle shells used by the hunter orrifleman can be stored in such a waterproof pocket in a dry andmoisture-free condition.

From the foregoing, it can be seen that a hat had been designed for mostsmall articles and supplies used by sportsmen and provides for easyaccess to the stored supplies simply by undoing a zipper fastener aroundthe top portion of the crown of the hat. In addition, the compartment orpocket which is presented to the user upon opening of the fastener is ofwaterproof construction so that either Wet articles or dry supplies canbe carried as abovedescribed without burdening the sportsman with theneed for a separate or additional container or kit or without thenecessity of using his pockets for storing such articles. It is to beunderstood however that the waterproof compartment such as 17 or 25 asshown in the drawings can be easily adapted to most any hat shape solong as it is snugly fit within the top most portion of the hats crownand is provided with a zipper type or other suitable fastener so as toenable the user to flip open the top of the crown in a manner asdescribed herein.

What is claimed is:

1. A flipper hat for sportsmen or the like comprising a flat-top crownportion, the side of said crown portion having a slit extendingsubstantially along the entire length thereof so as to enable the topmost portion of said crown to be flipped open, a zipper fastener forclosing and opening said slit, and means defining a compart- 25 ment atthe inner top portion of said crown extending above and below said sideslit and designed to be opened and closed along with the *opening andclosing of said top most crown portion so that the inside of saidcompartment means is presented to the user for storage of smallparaphernalia, said compartment means comprising an insert having a topwall in contact with the upper wall of said crown, a side wall incontact with said crown side wall and having a slit therein coincidentwith said crown portion slit, and a bottom wall spaced from the bottomof said crown portion a sufficient distance so as not to interfere witha proper wearing of the said hat.

2. The flipper hat according to claim 1 wherein said insert is aone-piece waterproof construction.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 661,509 11/1900 Fogg. 1,869,6528/1932 Baker.

2,640,992 6/1953 Hassler 2199 2,744,256 5/1956 Slotkin et al. 2-195FOREIGN PATENTS 1,472,626 1/ 1967 France.

MERVIN STERN, Primary Examiner G. H. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner

